Ginther says preschool education key to lifting neighborhoods

Wednesday

Feb 24, 2016 at 12:01 AMFeb 25, 2016 at 3:17 AM

A former school building in the Linden neighborhood will take a central role in Mayor Andrew J. Ginther's first State of the City address tonight. Ginther plans to announce a redevelopment of the Linden Park IGE Alternative School building, 1400 Myrtle Ave., and a nearby neighborhood recreation center into a preschool education center during his inaugural address at 6:30 p.m. at Whetstone High School.

Lucas Sullivan, The Columbus Dispatch

A former school building in the Linden neighborhood will take a central role in Mayor Andrew J. Ginther's first State of the City address tonight.

Ginther plans to announce a redevelopment of the Linden Park IGE Alternative School building, 1400 Myrtle Ave., and a nearby neighborhood recreation center into a preschool education center during his inaugural address at 6:30 p.m. at Whetstone High School.

The city plans to partner with Ohio State University and Columbus City Schools to create 14 classrooms that will begin serving 200 pre-kindergarten students in the next year or two. The center also will be a resource to help parents learn about job placement and preparing their children for kindergarten.

Ginther also will announce his plans to lobby state lawmakers to allow busing preschool students to schools.

“We are going to be focused on increasing the quality of preschool education citywide with the help of Ohio State,” Ginther said. “Linden and the Hilltop neighborhoods are areas I have talked about consistently, and it’s time to lift up the people that live there.”

The city’s resources will largely go toward rehabbing Linden Park and the recreation center. There is no cost estimate yet, and Ginther said the city’s capital budget will include funds for the project when it is completed in the next few weeks.

The campus also will get new playground equipment, he said.

Columbus’ operating budget for the year does not include more funding for education. Slowing revenue growth kept the preschool funding at $4.7 million this year, the same as in 2015.

The city hopes private companies, Ohio State, the state of Ohio and the Columbus City Schools can help. He suggested that the school district could seek a bond issue for additional funding.

State Sen. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, an advocate for educational programs, was supportive of Ginther’s ideas. She said state-approved busing of preschool students is needed and funding is the key piece.

“This is something we still need to do a lot of talking about and educating people about at the state level,” she said. “In urban areas, the ideas around expanding preschool are much further along than in local areas, so we need to talk about it more and we are starting to.”

In addition to preschool, Ginther said he will talk about plans to help people find jobs, including placing the formerly incarcerated in jobs to help them avoid going back to prison.

Ginther said about 1,200 people have RSVP’d for his speech tonight. He expects a lively atmosphere and some ribbing in the form of pictures from his high school days at Whetstone.

He said he hasn’t been too stressed about the speech.

“I have my dream job in my hometown at age 40 as the mayor of the best city in America,” he said. “My message is going to be one of opportunity and neighborhoods.”